Essay-based scholarships awarded to high school seniors

By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
OXFORD TWP. — The Polly Ann Trail management and Oxford Women’s Club have joined forces to hold a bottle drive aiming to raise funds for both the trail and the Women’s Club scholarship program.
Both organizations work relatively closely with one another as volunteers and members, and both organizations are in need of support to continue to provide to the community, explained Linda Moran, manager of the Polly Ann Trail.
“We all live locally, we all shop locally, we all try to take care of our businesses locally and none of us could, in good conscience, go and ask them to open their wallets one more time,” Moran said. “We’re trying to find creative ways to sustain the program without going to our businesses who are always so generous to everybody.”
The Polly Ann Trail is currently in need of several upgrades and upkeep projects, including resurfacing the trail and repairing some of the infrastructure of the trail like culverts and road crossings, some of which have failed or are so old they are on their way out.
The trail’s flashing beacon lights at road crossings on Burdick and Drahner are also in need of replacing because parts are no longer available for the models currently in place, Moran said.
The Polly Ann Trail Commission is also trying to make the trail safer and more ADA compliant.
“A lot of the culverts we have are original railroad culverts, built in the 1800’s. We’ve had, in the past, had a few fail and we’ve had them replaced. We’ve had a few fail that we’re waiting for funding to replace so they’re kind of limping along. The flashing beacon lights on Burdick and Drahner are failing. They’re first generation so there are no parts available. The road commission owns them but the Polly Ann Trail pays the road commission to maintain them,” Moran said.
“We’re hoping to do some ADA compliant things just to help people out with disabilities. We’re hoping to get the asphalt sections of the trails – there are a few – re-laminated. There are a lot of roots that come up and cause a ripple effect so it’s not smooth anymore. We’re looking to get that remilled.”
In order to do a lot of this work, the trail is seeking grant funding but in order to receive grant funding, they need to be able to match the grant amount.
The Oxford Women’s Club hopes to raise money for their scholarship program.
The Oxford Women’s Club has been in the community for 90 years, helping send students to their next level of education after high school, whatever that may be.
“It does not have to be a four year university. It can be a trade school, a hairdresser, or a tattoo artist, whatever it might be. Everything costs money and this scholarship is available for those kids as well,” Moran said. “It’s not just if you want to go to U of M (University of Michigan) or Harvard. If you want to go to OCC (Oakland Community College), there you go. If you want to go to the welding school or plumbing school, fantastic. It’s really good for everyone.”
Last year, the Oxford Women’s Club gave away $16,000 in scholarships.
The scholarship is available to all senior students in Oxford and is an essay-based scholarship, not an academic one. Students can receive applications and information by visiting their school counselor or on the Oxford High School website under academics, counseling, and scholarship opportunities.
Bottles are being collected at the police garage behind the Oxford Village Police station and village offices at 22 West Burdick for the rest of the month.
Though they are not seeking monetary donations, donations to the Polly Ann Trail can also be made online at pollyanntrail.org.